Groups call for seabed mining moratorium

As New
Zealand’s first application to mine ironsands from the
seabed was lodged at the EPA this week, Kiwis Against Seabed
Mining (KASM) leads a call for a moratorium on the untested
practice.

On Monday, Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) lodged their application
to mine the seabed off South Taranaki with the EPA.
The EPA has yet to approve it and could send TTR back to do
more homework before it opens the application up for public
submissions.

“This is an entirely untested and
experimental practice that we in New Zealand should take our
time in considering,” said Phil McCabe, Chairperson of
KASM.

“There are vast knowledge gaps in our
baseline understanding of the marine environment, let alone
what the effects would be from this activity. The regulatory
framework is inadequate and imbalanced, and the proposed
economic model is far from best case,” he said.

The call for the
moratorium is, so far, supported by a number of
different groups: Forest & Bird, Greenpeace, ECO, Sea
Shepherd, Surfing Taranaki and Surfbreak Protection
Society.

KASM believes, if implemented, the
moratorium would give New Zealanders time to better
understand the broader implications of such an industry
operating at scale in our coastal waters in terms of
recreation, environmental effects and the economic
trade-offs that would ensue.

Already, the
Governments of Australia’s Northern Territory and Namibia
have established moratoria on seabed mining off their
coastlines, arguing that there simply isn’t enough
information to let it go ahead.

KASM is gearing up
for the first hearing by the EPA under the new EEZ
legislation.

“New Zealand is an island nation and
we love our marine environment, and we love our black sands
- the people of the North Island’s west coast even more so
than most. TTR sure are going to have a fight on their
hands,” says McCabe.

The KASM Moratorium call sets
out six reasons why seabed mining should not go ahead in New
Zealand:

1. Insufficient knowledge: Our baseline
understanding is incomplete, therefore it is not currently
possible to adequately predict the environmental affects of
seabed mining.2. Cumulative effects unknown: The
marine environment is already under stress from industry,
fishing and agriculture. How would the addition of this
activity compound these effects?3. Inadequate
regulatory process: The new EEZ legislation falls far short
of the state of the art, participatory process that is
needed to protect and maintain the integrity of our marine
environment.4. New Zealanders need both time and
information: We need full and free access to information
and ample time to consider the long-term implications of
this activity. We need to know what stands to be lost before
it is put at risk.5. Questionable economic and social
impacts: In the case of ironsands, mining proposals feature
predominant foreign ownership and no added value to raw
resources onshore. Further, no consideration has been given
to potential collateral damage to ‘New Zealand Inc’
caused by the establishment of this environmentally
destructive industry.6. Highly experimental and
untested: the technology, and the impact of the world’s
largest seabed mining operation threatens not only our
marine environment, but also New Zealand’s international
image and trade
advantage.

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